ALBA Berlin rolls over Milan

ALBA Berlin was not a hospitable host in EA7 Emporio Armani Milan’s Eurocup season-opener, ALBA pulled away in the second half for an 83-67 victory at Mercedez-Benz Arena. The hosts improved to 4-1 against Italian clubs this season with the win. Dragan Milosavljevic starred for the victory with 23 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting plus 6 assists. Elmedin Kikanovic posted 16 points and 8 rebounds, Will Cherry added 15 points and 8 assists and Ismet Akpinar contributed 11 points in victory. Jamel McLean paved Milan with 18 points and Milan Macvan added 13. Alessandro Gentile, the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season scoring leader, was held to 9 points.

Kresimir Loncar scored first for the hosts and Oliver Lafayette got Milan going. A Macvan put-back gave the visitors their first lead, 5-6. Soon after, an Akeem Vargas triple triggered a 9-0 run in which Mitchell Watt scored and assisted to make it 16-8. An Akpinar three then gave ALBA its first double-digit lead, 21-10. A Gentile three revived Milan and Macvan added another. His free throw closed the deficit to 25-21 after 10 minutes. Andrea Cinciarini further chipped away at the deficit with a three early in the second quarter. McLean’s three-point play and a Krunoslav Simon triple completed the Milan comeback at 29-30. Milosavljevic countered with a three for ALBA before McLean’s next basket tied the score. It was still even, 38-38, after Gentile free throws with three minutes left in the half. Kikanovic’s layup gave the hosts a 41-39 lead at the break.

Cherry score the first 5 points of the second half before Charles Jenkins countered with a three for Milan. Kikanovic scored twice and a three from Akpinar restored ALBA’s double-digit advantage at 53-43. McLean scored the next 4 points to bring Milan back and Lafayette canned a triple to cut the gap to 5, but Cherry found Milosavljevic open for a three that made it 60-52 through three quarters. Milosavljevic scored again to start the fourth. Milan threatened when McLean converted a three-point play and Macvan hit from behind the arc to make it 64-58. A pair of Milosavljevic threes helped settle the hosts. Simon hit a triple, but the red-hot Milosavljevic served up a three-point play and his fifth three-pointer for a commanding 78-62 lead with four minutes to go. Macvan and McLean continued to generate points, but they were too few and too late as ALBA marked the start of the Last 32 with a victory.